CEDAW/C/GC/37 in the context of disaster risk reduction and climate change, and promote the participation and leadership of women in their development; (b) Ensure that the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years for both women and men. States parties should include training on the prevalence of early and forced marriage for all personnel involved in disaster response activities. In partnership with women’s associations and other stakeholders, mechanisms should be established, within local and regional disaster management plans, to prevent, monitor and address early and forced marriages; (c) Provide accessible, confidential, supportive and effective mechanisms for all women wishing to report gender-based violence; (d) Develop, in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, including women’s associations, a system for the regular monitoring and evaluation of interventions designed to prevent and respond to gender-based violence against women, within programmes relating to disaster risk reduction and climate change; (e) Provide training, sensitization and awareness-raising for the authorities, emergency services workers and other groups on the various forms of gender-based violence that are prevalent in situations of disaster and how to prevent and address them. The training should include information on the rights and needs of women and girls, including those from indigenous and minority groups, women and girls with disabilities, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and girls and intersex persons, and the ways in which they may be exposed to and affected by gender-based violence; (f) Adopt long-term policies and strategies to address the root causes of gender-based violence against women in situations of disaster, including by engaging with men and boys, the media, traditional and religious leaders and educational institutions, in order to identify and eliminate social and cultural stereotypes concerning the status of women. B. Rights to education and to information 58. Article 10 of the Convention concerns the elimination of discrimination in education. 22 Education improves the capacity of women to participate within their households, families, communities and businesses and to identify the means to reduce disaster risk, mitigate climate change, develop more effective recovery strategies and thus build more resilient communities. Education also increases access to opportunities, resources, technology and information that aids in disaster risk reduction and the development of effective policies relating to climate change. The prevention and mitigation of disasters and climate change require well -trained women and men in disciplines including economics, agriculture, water resources management, climatology, engineering, law, telecommunications and emergency services. 59. In the aftermath of disasters, girls and women, whose access to education is often already limited as a result of social, cultural a nd economic barriers, may face even greater obstacles to participation in education, owing to the destruction of infrastructure, lack of teachers and other resources, economic hardship and security concerns. __________________ 22 18-03824 See general recommendation No. 36 (2017) on the right of girls and women to education. 17/24